China's Lunar Calendar 2014 03-10

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT March 14.........................................................................................................March 6 RIGHT

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing. There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. 

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left
十

日
一期星

Third Month, Tenth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, March 10

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天月
恩空

Lunar Void
Heavenly Kindness

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Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

中吉凶

酉己丑
凶吉吉
戌午寅
凶吉吉

亥未卯

吉吉中

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.

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Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
行結
喪綱

Binding Nets
Mourning Visits

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
庚
辰
金
畢
除

Tenth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengchen (17/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Net (19/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)
*A cyclical character in this jianchu pattern occasionally repeats, as it does today.

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Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜
出
行
理

髮

沐

浴

掃

舍
三無
喪祿
天月
刑害

Appropriate Activities

Going Out (and about)
Patterning Hair
Bubbling and Bathing
Sweeping Floors

Miscellaneous Information

 Without Emolument
Lunar Harm
Three Mournings
Heavenly Punishment

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人 火
Person, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓
栖 磨

Pestle
Perch, Mortar